The Coward in Us All
by ZheM
Summary: A dream is just a dream, right? It couldn't be real, could it? Gen, Character death if you see it that way.


I know, I'm supposed to be working on Okami but there's a lot of research that goies into that story and I got the idea for this one while I was working on a paper for my fiction class... I'll dedicated this one to everyone who was impatient for a new story. Hope this doesn't confuse everyone.

The Coward in Us All  
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He ran, the village was burning down around him and Naruto ran. In his mind's eye he could still see Sakura and Sasuke's bloody bodies lying on the ground around him. He ran faster, his body jumping from tree limb to tree limb without his even noticing it anymore. Naruto just had to get away.

He was a coward to run now of all times. He could have chosen any other time to run away and it wouldn't have affected much. But now, now Konoha needed him. That fact didn't matter to Naruto now though. He just needed to run. It was the end of the world as he and every citizen of Konohagakure knew it. Fire reigned throughout most of the village, spreading faster than even the most advanced water jutsus could keep up with.

And still he ran. The blond had no idea what had given him to run from a fight that so obviously needed his undaunted spirit. Normally he never gave up on anything, but right now, in this moment, he had turned tail and fled. He could almost picture Sasuke standing in front of him and telling him what a coward he was. It was only imaginings though, because Sasuke was dead, and with him was more than half the village. The rest would join him shortly, of this Naruto was certain, though he couldn't put his finger on why.

And then, like a dream, a flicker of illusion on his reality, Kakashi was there. In all his copy-ninja glory, Kakashi finally stopped Naruto's run.

Naruto stopped dead a few tree limbs away from Kakashi and visually checked him for fatal injuries. There didn't seem to be any but the nose found secrets the eyes would dismiss. Kakashi was bleeding, but it wasn't anything he'd normally worry about. But there was nothing normal about this situation. The other ninja's eyes were hard as they looked Naruto over and didn't find anything to warrant attention.

Kakashi didn't look too happy with him, that much was very obvious. Naruto could feel a faint blush coming on. Why had he been running?? He couldn't remember.

"Kakashi-sensei," he began, his voice sounding childish to his own ears. It was a wonder Kakashi didn't smack him for still being a child at the age of 19. "What… Where are we? What am I doing here??" His confusion brightened his eyes for a moment before they darkened again when Kakashi seemed to freeze. What was he missing??

He jumped on the next limb, trying to get closer to his former teacher. Naruto stopped though when Kakashi leapt to a branch further away. What?? Was…Was Kakashi-sensei afraid? Afraid of him?

He tried again. Naruto stepped onto the next branch and this time it didn't seem to surprise Kakashi enough to make him move though his body shifted noticeably. "Sensei?"

Why wouldn't Kakashi answer him? What was he afraid of? Naruto looked down at himself trying to see if there was anything about him that was different. He still looked the same, though the blond hair hanging in his face did seem to have a slightly redder tint to it today. He ran a hand over his face and hissed when his elongated nails caught and tore a little on his skin.

Naruto growled before he could stop himself and was dismayed when Kakashi stepped away again. "Kaka," he took another leap forward and Kakashi stepped back. He stopped and stared at Kakashi as though he'd never seen him before. What was going on here?? Naruto felt his teeth sharpen and begin cutting into his lip. The taste of blood in his mouth was only serving to make him angrier.

From the continued shifting on Kakashi's branch it was apparent that he hadn't missed the change in Naruto's mood. He took a deep breath and tried to calm down. Why was he getting so upset over Kakashi's indifference? Since when did he let it affect him so?

He looked up at the silver haired copy-nin, a little of the fear he felt was beginning to show in his blue eyes. "Kakashi, what happened to me?" Naruto ran a careful finger over the place his tooth had cut his lip and winced at the feeling of a still open wound. "But Kyuu- Kakashi, what happened?!"

When Kakashi finally spoke up, his usually muffled words reached Naruto's ears very clearly. "Coward!"

He felt like he was choking. What was Kakashi talking about? Naruto looked around, surprised to find he wasn't inside Konoha's gates. What was happening to him? He turned and looked back in the direction he had come. From Konoha, and even now he could see billowing black smoke rising steadily toward the ever darkening sky.

"Kakashi, I-I don't understand, what am I doing here," the pleading note in his voice irritated something deep inside Naruto and for a moment he thought finally, finally the fox inside him would explain what was going on. But the feeling inside him wasn't from the fox, in fact, Naruto didn't feel anything from the fox now. But, that could only mean… "Kakashi! I think I figured it ou-!"

A kunai launched at his head stopped whatever Naruto might have been trying to say. He lost his footing on the branch and even chakra couldn't catch him when he was unprepared. The blond knew that he'd hit the ground any minute now and he tried to brace himself for the impact.

When he landed on the floor in front of his couch Naruto groaned and tried to roll over. His legs were tangled in something and from his position he couldn't quite tell what it was. He tried to push himself onto his back but there was something sticking into his shoulder. The blond pried the sharp utensil out of his skin and looked at it curiously. A kunai must have fallen out of his holder. He looked down at his leg only to find the kunai holder was no where in sight.

Naruto set the blade on the table beside him and rolled over to see what he was tied up in. As his blue eyes landed on the dark material, Naruto wondered if he'd finally managed to hit the ground.

Wrapped around his legs was Kakashi's mask. And Naruto could still hear his accusation. "Coward."

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What did you think?? I've never written anything mystery-like before. And Sisco was supposed to beta this for me but she was taking too long and I wanted to post this before getting much needed sleep, so tell me if you find any errors or if there's something that doesn't make sense. XD


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